I can not agree with the jist of this letter at all, Europeans did not attack the First Nations of America like a war, after the natives taught them how to survive, fed them, clothed them, made them strong again, then and only then, did they slowly and very abusively begin to kill the Natives off. I again think people need to really look at the history of Aboriginal/First Nations/Native American take over, it was NEVER called war. There were battles and there were mascures, usually when the europeans attacked the Natives it was called a battle, especially if they defeated the Natives, but if the Natives won, which was very seldom, it was called a masacure, and usually the Natives were called savages or barbaric. Though the history of scalp taking, and other brutal dealings of the bodies were brought to this country from else where. I think You, being of some Native heratige would be interested to really read about the brutality of some these as You call them WARs, I like to call them attacks. I especially like the battle of the big whole, on Black Elk, how the soldiers attacked at first light and shooting and useing cannon fire to anialate everyone in the encampment, women and children alike, now how in Gods name can You call that War, that is savagery at its best. You know the real problem is, that whites, wrote ALL the history books, only when someone decided to ask some of the survivors what really happened, did the truth really come out, there are a lot of those stories passed down now, and actually in print, interesting reading real history, accurate history, history without all the white twists to make it sound as though they were all abused and lucky to survive the murauding natives, and by God if someone did survive they were heros. ever wonder why we have so many holidays, like presidents day, President Lincoln, Martin Luther King Day, 4th of July, on and on and on, but there isn't ONE DAY in the U.S. to remember the 1ST People of this country, not that these other people aren't totally deserving, but come on, there were some very fearless, and great warriors, Geronimo, Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, the list goes on and on, why the hell isn't there one day in this country to Honor those Fallen Heros, all they wanted was to live in peace, just as the Great Creator meant them to do. The real problem is, the natives would always agree to some treaty, or some twisted bulls**t line, and allow the Europeans to live in peace, as long as the natives could hunt, fish and properly take care of their people. But the minute the Whites found something like gold(Sioux Nation, Black Hills, the real reason Custer was in South East Montana, he was after GOLD), or rich soil, they would figure out a way to push the natives further and further away from their homelands, starvation and disease always prevailed, or just plain shoot them all. Also, look into some of the history of the gifts that the whites, europeans, newcomers, whatever You want to call them, gave to the Tribes, blankets contaminated with disease, smallpox, etc., and we think chemical or germ warfare is new, not on Your life, Millions and Millions of Natives were taken by disease, dieing so fast they couldn't even morn their dead. We here so much about the brutality of the Holocaust, but the first mass killing, or holocaust was right here in the U.S., and I am not certain, but the numbers of deaths were higher here among the Natives by the time it was all said and done that it out numbered the Jewish Holocaust victims. There were literally thousands of Tribes throughout his nation pre-european contact, and thousands of them were systematically anialated as You put it, Peoples and cultures gone forever, that my friend is NOT WAR, just like the Jews of the holocost, there was never war announced to them, no preperations of defense could be made. Hell how could the Natives defend themselves against canons, guns, long knives as they put it, there was no defense except in numbers. Hell the Tribes through out the history of European contact were always helping them survive, always believing their lies, and look what it got them, or at least some of them, a small piece of land to call their own, and You complain about Your tax dollars going to them, well rest assured Hon, You could never in a 100 years pay for what any of the Tribal People had to give up for everyone to live here. So, as far as I am concerned, the Treaty of 1855, is the only thing the Whites have stuck too, which is the year most western Tribes were forced onto their little peice of earth. Again, read some history, within 50 years, most of that land was even stolen from them, and every right we were suppose to get in those treaties, we have had to fight to keep, look at our hunting, fishing, and gathering rights, look at the history of how the National Bison Range was aquired and what really happened to the money that was suppose to be paid to my Tribe for that 80,000 acres. The Feds decided they would use it to survey the rest of the Reservation so it could be cut into small pieces for, guess what for???? So that it could be divided up for Allotments, and White settlement, which it took some slick Lawyer almost 50 years to figure out how to find a legal loop hole in the treaty to open up our Reservation to white settlement. Seriously, look into some REAL history of the U.S. and it's Aboriginal People, I think, by the sounds of Your letter, You will be truly shocked, and possibly understand better why some Native People are angry, why some are so slow to assimilate, the idea of owning land is still somewhat hard to grasp by our Elders, how can One own a piece of earth, it was given to the people to live on, and they were to take care of it, and to treat it as a gift from the Creator, not like a possesion, and certainly not destory it, as it provided everything we needed, food, water, CLEAN WATER, HEALTHY FOOD, medicine from the plants, even birth control, so we wouldn't grow beyond our means. Enough said, I hope I too did not offend, but I had to let You know how I feel about the subject, and maybe why some feel so angry at times, some in another letter said it well, "we have become comedians, so we can laugh a lot, for it really helps cover up the pain....................
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Originally Posted by florida southerner 3
What do I think about Native Americans? I myself, have a great great grandmother who was a Cherokee princess which is cool head knowledge and neat. However, anybody born in America is a Native American. If by Native AMerican, you mean Aboriginal American, then I'd have to say they are people like the rest of us. They are today no more or no less American than the next person. Every nation right or wrong has been forged from blood, guts, invasions, displacements, and assimilations. America is no exception. People get conquered and assimilated. it's a fact of life, like it or not. I'm not here to ascertain the moral implications of these acts, just stating the facts as they are. Modern Americans who are descended or partially descended from those conquered Aboriginal Americans do not need to be supported by my tax dollars! It's not mine nor anybody elses fault today, what happened 120 years ago on back! Do you think the modern Spanish government left over from the old Roman Empire, pays Spaniards whose ancestry traces back prior to Roman conquest and occupation? I seriously doubt it! There were wars between Aboriginal Americans and European settlers. Some wars were started by the Aboriginees and others by the Europeans. there were conflicts that erupted as a result of atrocities committed from both sides, not just the Europeans, as modern liberalism tries to brainwash us with! I'm sure what I'm about to say will no doubt offend some but that's not my intention. If one nation is going to conquer a nation either by assimilation or displacement, it needs to be fully realized and followed through with. If it's half a** done, the balance will undoubtedly grow and grow and come back either to reverse the deed or, as in our case today in America, retaliate in our economy! The Aboriginal peoples should have been totally destroyed or totally assimilated, or Europeans should never have settled here in the first place! It's one or the other. I don't say that with anger, hate, or malice. That's just an objective outlook on the nature of human migratory patterns and settlings. But, I have nothing against anybody per sec. If the situation was reversed and the Aboriginal Americans were invading the Aboriginal Europeans, I'd say the exact same thing!
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02-14-2008, 12:10 PM
Totally Disagree,
It would do you good because you could teach your children or nephews & nieces. 
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